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Fall 2005 ABC TV Network Programming Schedule

 Descriptions and Analysis

New Series in blue.

Click on underlined titles for information.

Here's the link to ABC's own 2005 Schedule website.

Midseason:  Crumbs, The Evidence, Less than Perfect (return), The Bachelor (return), Sons & Daughters, In Justice, The Miracle Workers, What About Brian (March 2006)

New Series

Commander-in-Chief:  West Point grad-turned film critic-turned motion picture writer and director Rod Lurie (The Contender, The Last Castle) returns to television (after 2003's very fine critical but not viewer favorite Line of Fire) and to the political arena with this much-anticipated drama about the first female President of the United States.  If he can do for star Geena Davis what he did for Joan Allen in The Contender -- that is, give an actress a meaty, acclaimed and grandstandy mega role (and in Ms. Davis' case, resurrect a once-zingy career) -- and bring ABC some more female-fueled oomph ala Desperate Housewives...well, then Rod Lurie could be this season's Marc Cherry, and ergo, ABC's darling.  Premieres September 27th.  Update 10/20:  Commander-in-Chief has received its full-season order from ABC.

Emily's Reasons Why Not: Heather Graham (possibly still best known for her film role as a roller-skating porn actress in 1997's Boogie Nights, which is sorta sad, really...), Khary Payton (he's done lots of animation and videogame voicings), frequent TV guest-actress Smith Cho, and indie film and stage actress Nadia Dajani star in this single-camera (hurrah, no annoying audience!) comedy about a self-help author who tries valiantly to live her life according to her own advice.  Created by ex-movie publicist Carrie Gerlach.  Premieres in January '06 after football season.

Freddie:  Based on the raucous houseful-of-Puerto-Rican-females real-life upbringing of star and creator Freddie Prinze Jr. (I Know What You Did Last Summer, Scooby Doo, Mr. Sarah Michelle Geller), Freddie will bring the likeable star to TV for his first series.  Freddie's the head chef at a hot Chicago restaurant and should therefore be a busy babe magnet, but instead ends up sharing his apartment with his grandma (played by Jenny Gago -- Coach Carter, Alien Nation series), and his sister (Jacqueline Obradors, NYPD Blue) plus her daughter, along with Twin Peak's Madchen Amick as his sister-in-law.  His best friend is played Brian Green (aka Brian Austin Green from Beverly Hills 90210), and since he's also Freddie's neighbor he'll be close by to share the humor in his pal's unique living situation.  Freddie's timeslot may look good, but being in front of megahit Lost isn't as helpful as it's crucial that lead-in George Lopez is able to get the night rolling.  Premieres October 5th.

Hot Properties: Guess you can call this one Desperate Realtors, as four ladies wreak comic havoc in a New York city real estate office in this new workplace comedy.  Gail O' Grady (American Dreams, NYPD Blue), Nicole Sullivan (Mad TV, The King of Queens, Kim Possible), Colombian bombshell Sofia Vergara (Soul Plane), and Audra Blaser are the women, with Evan Handler (Sex and the City, The West Wing, The Three Stooges TV movie, as Larry) and Stephen Dunham (Monster-in-Law) as the men who aggravate them.  If this hits with the same crowd that's watching lead-in Hope & Faith -- and it just might have the same giddy hen-party qualities which made H & F a relative success -- ABC could solidify its Friday night.  Premieres October 7th.  Update 12/1:  It looks like Hot Properties is cancelled.  The series will leave the schedule in December and the timeslot will go to the new Crumbs in January.

Invasion:  Another entry in this season's sci-fi bumper crop, Invasion takes place in the aftermath of a devastating hurricane, as a Florida town's residents begin to experience disquieting events and eerie transformations.  A cast of mostly non-household names, including Alexis Dziena (Broken Flowers),  Tyler Labine (John Belushi in that Mork and Mindy TV movie), Eddie Cibrian (Third Watch, The Young and the Restless), William Fitchner ('02's flop series MDs, Jodie Foster's blind colleague in Contact), Canadian actress Kari Matchett (Earth: Final Conflict), Aisha Hinds (The Shield), and Evan Porter (Phil of the Future) portray some of the townspeople in this show which certainly hopes that it will hold over the audience from its lead-in, last season's surprise hit Lost.  The only trouble is that Lost has changed time periods so I'd say all bets are off.  Creator Shaun Cassidy (The Mountain, Players, Roar, American Gothic) has a string of imaginative, well-done cult-appeal series under his belt, and just maybe Invasion could bring him the certified hit he deserves.  Theme note:  Both American Gothic and Invasion have a law enforcement officer as one of the main characters, and if you remember AG, Gary Cole was a major creep in that one!  Premieres September 21st.  Update 9/5/05:  The real-life Gulf Coast devastation of Hurricane Katrina has prompted ABC to downplay the hurricane in promos but it will not be edited out of the show.  Also, in an attempt adopt currently cool marketing efforts, ABC has posted a fake blog from one of the residents.  Update 10/21:  Invasion has just received its full-season pick-up order.

The Night Stalker:  The much-loved Darren McGavin-starring mystery-sci-fi series from the '70s is being remade under the aegis of Frank Spotnitz (The X-Files), but it remains to be seen if star Stuart Townsend (League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, almost-Aragorn in the Rings movies until he was declared too young for the role -- missed it by that much, chief...) can fill the tennis shoes of his cantankerously charismatic predecessor.  This time around Carl Kolchak's got a black and beautiful lady partner played by Gabrielle Union (Something the Lord Made, Love and Basketball), Cotter Smith (X-2, Tru Calling) plays his boss Tony Vincenzo (the great Simon Oakland in the original), and Eric Jungmann (Even Stevens) looks to be playing the resident geek/nutball.  The Night Stalker will have a tougher-than-tough time of it in its Thursday night 9pm slot; the original series was a two-TV movie, one-TV season phenomenon -- let's hope the 2005 version can do as well.  Premieres September 29th.  Update 11/15:  The Night Stalker has been cancelled, effective immediately.  

What About Brian:  Is this the '05 version of late-80s hit thirtysomething?  Brian's a great guy, everybody's best friend, but can't seem to hook up with his dream gal (who happens to be his best buddy's fiancee).  Full of married-folks' trademark troubles -- like the we-don't-have-sex-anymore couple and another with their we-can't-get-pregnant woes -- this could fill the gap for self-involved-and-loving-it folks who've maxed out on the crude personal dynamics of reality shows.  Barry Watson (7th Heaven) stars as Brian, Matthew Davis (Legally Blonde, Blue Crush) is his best buddy, Canadian Polly Shannon (Sue Thomas F.B. Eye, Phyllis Nesmith in the TV movies about The Monkees) as Brian's secret love, veteran actress Rosanna Arquette (Desperately Seeking Susan, and many, many other appearances) as Brian's sister, Raoul Bova (Diane Ladd's handsome amore in Under the Tuscan Sun) as her husband, and Rick Gomez and Amanda Detmer as the no-sex partners.  What About Brian? is tailor-made for introspective romantics looking for the kind of series we haven't seen in a while.  Premieres in January '06 after football.  Update 1/06:  What About Brian's premiere is tentatively set for sometime in March 2006.

Returning Series

Boston Legal aka The Practice: Fleet Street:  After almost single-handedly reviving interest last season in David E. Kelley's faltering The Practice, the talented James Spader (as one-of-a-kind lawyer Alan Shore) gets his own spinoff with Boston Legal.  Joining him will be veteran thesp and certified pop culture icon William Shatner as the slightly daft head of the firm, Denny Crane, also spun-off from his successful string of guest star appearances on The Practice.  Along for the ride are Rhona Mitra, coming over The Practice, and Lake Bell (Miss Match), ditto.  No doubt Spader is one of the most intriguing actors gracing the small screen these days, and it will be great to see Shatner sinking his teeth into the role of Denny on a long-term basis.  These performers helped The Practice rise from the dead this past season, and viewers are once again entranced with the series.  Good for it.  Without a doubt this is one of the must-watch carryovers this season.   Connoisseurs of the slightly weird school of acting have a bonanza on Sunday nights, what with Vincent D'Onofrio  plying his mannered wares on NBC at 9p on Law & Order: Criminal Intent and now Spader a regular at 10pm on ABC.  Rejoice!  Premiere Date:  10/3/04.  Update 8/30:  The title of the show is officially Boston Legal.  Update 9/2/04:  Actress Monica Potter (Along Came a Spider, Patch Adams {ugh!}) has joined the cast as a junior partner in the Boston Legal firm.  Update 10/15/04:  Boston Legal is doing very well this season, benefiting from Desperate Housewives strong showing on Sundays nights, but also in its own right.    

Desperate Housewives:  The buzz on this sophisticated, sorta-American Beauty-esque premise is plenty positive.  Mary Alice Scott (Sheryl Lee -- who's being replaced, as of 6/10/04) commits suicide, and all her neighbors try to figure out what went wrong in their affluent, it-couldn't-happen-here suburb, all the while being observed by the late Mrs. Scott from the beyond.  This classy soap opera from writers and producers of Melrose Place and General Hospital certainly has the right provenance, and a cast of ladies ripe for a TV Guide cover:  Felicity Huffman (Sports Night), Nicolette Sheridan (Knot's Landing), Teri Hatcher (Lois & Clark, those Radio Shack ads), Marcia Cross (Everwood), Ms. Lee (Twin Peaks, Kingpin) and Eva Longoria (The Young and the Restless).  ABC has never quite been able to make Alias the hit that it should be in the Sunday 9pm time slot, so let's see if Desperate Housewives does the trick.  (Alias takes over the slot after DH departs in midseason).  Premiere Date:  10/3/04.  Update 10/15/04:  This critics' darling is also reaping audience gold for ABC, giving the network a Sunday triple-crown win with Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, Desperate Housewives and Boston Legal, at least at this point two weeks into the season.  Update 11/16/04:  DH's incredible buzz and ratings dominance have changed ABC's plan to slip Alias back into the Sunday 9pm slot come January; now Desperate Housewives will continue in its winning timeslot and producer J.J. Abrams' Alias will be slotted in behind his -- and ABC's -- big Wednesday night hit Lost.  Good news for both nights! Update 7/05:  Naturally, this mega-hit will be back for next season, and was nominated for an impressive 15 Emmy awards (but then again, so was the tired Will and Grace, so there...).  No doubt devout fans of the show will love seeing Teri Hatcher (who deserves it), Marcia Cross and Felicity Huffman vie for Best Actress in a Comedy.  This too-much-a-hoot-to-be-a-drama but a bit-too-soapy-to-be-a-comedy (but there it is) hasn't spawned quite the number of clone shows for the 2005 season as expected, and it will be interesting to see if it has the same rabid fan base in its second go-round. 

Grey's Anatomy:  A group of talented female recent medical school grads suffer the trials and defibrillations of their tough first year of residency in this intense hospital drama.  Ellen Pompeo (Old School, Moonlight Mile) plays the most beautiful one, daughter of a famous female surgeon and trying to live it down, Sandra Oh (Under The Tuscan Sun, Judging Amy) plays the blunt, cynical one, and Katherine Heigl (Roswell) -- wait, maybe she's supposed to be the prettiest one -- rounds out the trio.  Patrick Dempsey (Sweet Home Alabama, Once and Again) is on hand as an instructor who's bedded by one of the gals, Chandra Wilson (Bob Patterson) is in as a tough administrator, and Isaiah Washington (Soul Food, Hollywood Homicide) gruffs it up as an even tougher head doc.  Looking like a sexy, rock n' roll grrrl take on the same-old, same-old doctor biz, Grey's Anatomy at least gets my vote for trying to reverse the inexorable trend towards grim police drama.  The potential success of this show could be hurt by any lousy numbers for the movie that precedes it, as if simply being in the Monday 10pm slot weren't difficult enough.  Update 7/05:  Anatomy got a real boost from Desperate Housewives super lead-in, and so will be back next season.  It's also received three Emmy noms, including Sandra Oh for Best Supporting Actress in a Drama.  I find the show flip and way too soap-opera/romance novel, but it's doing the trick in keeping those Desperate viewers stuck to ABC, and that's the point of the whole business.   

Hope and Faith: Daytime Darling Kelly Ripa teams up with Faith Ford (Murphy Brown) in a high concept, high energy family sitcom which will provide the tentpole for ABC's revamped TGIF.  In a life-imitates-art (somewhat) plot point, Ripa plays a washed-up soap opera star who retreats into suburbia to live with her stay-at-home-mom sister and her husband, their three kids, and the sisters' older father who lives with them.  Egos clash, sibling rivalries are rekindled, and I have to admit that the clip I saw had some funny if less-than-subtle moments.  It looks like the gals aren't afraid of some old-fashioned physical humor, and if they have any skill it could be a welcome return of something we just don't see much of anymore, at least not using women over thirty.  It's also wonderful to to see veteran actor Harve Presnell in the cast.  After his movie debut back in 1964 with Debbie Reynolds in The Unsinkable Molly Brown, this singer-actor did mostly stage work until he returned with a vengeance with his role in the Coen Brothers Fargo in 1996, and he hasn't stopped working since.  He and Sean Connery are a great advertisement for men over 70!  If ABC gets their Friday strategy going strong, Hope and Faith looks like it has a great chance to attract viewers.  And it won't hurt having Kelly Ripa plugging the show on her daytime gig with Regis, either.  HaF looks like much more of a sure thing than Life with Bonnie; that made it to season two, and is in fact the lead-out here.  And in case you're confused who's who, Kelly is Faith and Faith is Hope.  Update 6/30/03:  Veteran TV personality Ted McGinley joins the cast as Ford's husband, replacing Josh Stamberg who played the role in the pilot.  Premiere Date:  9/26/03.  Review 10/2:  Well, so much for my kind words about Harve Presnell.  He seems to be out of the picture -- hey, how many kids have grandparents around today, anyway, right? -- and that's a shame.  There's nothing novel on Hope and Faith, except perhaps further evidence of the new family TV list of acceptable subjects which now obviously includes crotchless panties, to be or not to be a slut, little girls' boob-talk, and noontime parental sex breaks.  I'm far from a prude, but really, is that kind of stuff necessary?  If Ripa and Ford would just stick to bickering and throwing around cookie dough, I'd be a lot more pleased to see this one make it.  Faith Ford is a pro, as always, but we're forced to listen to her character's implausible complaints that after having three kids her breasts are sagging and she's too out of shape to wear a teddie, and what does Ford weigh, like 95 pounds or something?  It's a visual disconnect that just doesn't cut it.  Let's hope she doesn't go lingerie shopping again, for any number of reasons!  Hope and Faith isn't bad; it's silly to the max and that's okay.  Kelly Ripa has just about enough comedienne in her to pass muster, and if we're not going to exactly see comedy history being made here, at least nobody's turned up gay so far, and that's in itself makes Hope and Faith a unique experience this season.  Update 10/17/03:  ABC has ordered four more scripts.  Update 10/30/03:  Got its full season order.  Update 5/19/04:  Remains in its current time period for the 2004/2005 season, its second.

Jake in Progress: Stars Stamos (Full House) as a hotshot NYC publicist with an active social and professional life.  Originally envisioned as a romantic take on a 24-like treatment of a day-long date, it's back to a traditional sitcom format.  Co-starring with Stamos are Wendie Malick, Rick Hoffman (The Practice, The Street), Bess Meyer and Ian Gomez.  

Lost:  Now, this one looks like a lot of fun!  J.J. Abrams, creator of Alias, gives us a spectacular airplane crash, a deserted island, a mismatched group of survivors, and something out there in the jungle with a big scary roar.  My kind of show!   The cast is very nearly enormous -- actress Evangeline Lilly (former Judgement Day girl on the G4 network, Stephen King's Kingdom Hospital) gets her big break here, along with co-stars Ian Somerhalder (Smallville, the never-aired Fearless), Dominic Monaghan (Hobbit Merry in LOTR), Jorge Garcia (Becker)  Maggie Grace (Oliver Beene), Naveen Andrews (The English Patient, Rollerball), Harold Perrineau (Oz, The Matrix trilogy, Romeo + Juliet), Matthew Fox (Party of Five), Terry O'Quinn (Alias, Harsh Realm, Millennium, and about a million other roles), Daniel Dae Kim (24, Angel, Enterprise) -- and one guesses that not all of them will make ultimately make it. That'll be too bad; it's a great group of charismatic acting talent.  We know that Abrams knows how to put together surprising, action-packed, thrilling yet intelligent television; though American viewers have shown again and again lately that they just may not be up to such a rich entertainment package, Lost will be a found treasure for those of us who crave more than just procedural plodding on the small screen.  Can it pull young viewers from Smallville?  Will people spurn that other island, Hawaii (on NBC) also running against it?  Give this one a chance -- Abrams hasn't let us down yet, though some of the early buzz is less than gleeful.  Premiere Date:  9/22/04.  Update 10/15/04:  In its three outings so far, Lost looks to be another hit for ABC this season, with solid numbers and the kind of attractive demos networks crave.  Review 10/15/04:  Although ABC has never quite been able to make Alias the hit it should be, J.J. Abrams has got to admit that they've been doing something right with his newest opus Lost, which has most definitely found its audience on Wednesday nights.  This Juraissic Park/real-life Survivor/Lord of the Flies/Twilight Zone-influenced hour is highly watchable, with its large cast plenty enough attractive, soulful, spunky, mysterious, menacing, haunted and heroic to make this the kind of exciting TV that's a welcome respite from the now-too-common police procedurals parade.  Lost producers are getting plenty of mileage out of the harrowing jet crash sequence from the pilot -- flashbacks of it turn up in every episode -- and if you've seen that, you know that the series isn't afraid to ramp up the terror quotient, though it's almost funny to see whatever huge beastie's lurking out there being heralded primarily by frantic bush-shaking.  But hey, it works, corny as it is.  Matthew Fox has grown up into a credible leading man in his role as a stalwart medico, Ms. Lilly is sweaty, sexy and dangerous as a woman with a mysterious criminal past, Dominic Monaghan convincingly and appealingly makes the could-have-been-difficult transition from darling of the Hobbit set to jaded yet plucky rock star (with an unfortunate coke habit), and of course Terry O'Quinn is his usual intriguing self as a he man-in-the-making who, we've discovered, has the crash to thank for miraculously giving him back the use of his paralyzed legs.  By god, I can't wait to see what happens in the next episode, and that's not something that happens very often.  There's a real plot here, and action, and excitement -- old-fashioned entertainment elements that happily have come together this year and found an audience.  We all know that's not always the case; let's just be glad it's happening now.  Update 11/6/04:  Come January, Lost's lead-out will be J.J. Abrams' other exciting series Alias, starting its third season.  Alias, previously set to move into the Sunday night 9pm Desperate Housewives slot at the first of the year, should be a great companion piece to Lost, which has become a somewhat surprise hit on Wednesday nights, helping give ABC its renewed vigor this year as a purveyor of popular dramas.  Update 7/05:  This surprise -- but not to me -- hit will, of course, be back for next season, and also has garnered a very impressive twelve Emmy noms, including for Best Drama Series, and a couple of Best Supporting Actor noms for Indian-playing-Iraq Naveen Andrews and Terry O'Quinn.  However, nominating Naveen (who is great, tho') over Dominic Monaghan, who gave the performance to beat, a fascinating, often gut-wrenching, multi-layered and touching portrayal of Charlie, is a big mistake.  If O'Quinn is the mysterious third eye of the show, Dominic is surely its heart.  Hopefully this can be rectified in further years.     

Rodney:  Down-home stand-up comedian Rodney Carrington gets his chance at network TV stardom with this look at family life in Middle America, geographically and financially speaking.  Carrington, whose stage act is considerably more saucy than (presumably) his TV show will be, has a bland yet appealing good 'ol boy look, and the show should fit right in with the other male star comedies on Wednesday night.  It sure doesn't look like there's anything new and different going on here, but it's all about how much the audience takes to Rodney, both the series and the man.  Aimed at the salt-of-the-earth crowd who's been wearing black since Roseanne went off the air -- but who wouldn't watch UPN's The Mullets last year -- at least it's good to see some people on TV who aren't rolling in dough (except behind the scenes, of course.)  Premiere Date:  0/21/04.  Update 11/14:  Rodney has been given a full 22 episode season order.     

Wife Swap:  Americans once again get their hands on a proven British award-winning TV show premise; this one actually sounds like it's more like PBS' Manor House or Colonial House rather than Big Brother, though surely ABC execs are hoping it skews towards the latter.  Two moms from different lifestyles swap families (conjugal privileges not included, presumably) for ten days, and after five adjustment days they get to impose their own rules on the households.  Veggie vs. meat-lovers, tidy vs. slob, quiet time vs. Playstation break -- either this show will foster a new tolerance for differences or some less pleasant alternative.  I hope this one doesn't emphasize families with money vs. those with less -- that would hardly be fair or anything less than repugnant -- but I'll admit that this series could a lot of appeal for many viewers.  It's on fairly late though, and will have insane competition -- the original Law & Order (could this be the year it takes a hit?), and CBS' newly-minted CSI: New York with the too-good-for-TV Gary Sinise.  Let's hope ABC replays Wife Swap on Saturdays -- at a time where younger viewers can catch it -- to get more exposure for what could turn out to be one of the more interesting breakout hits of the year.  There's no end to the fascination with the mundane rituals of life on TV these days, so this show's got the goods.  Buzz is very high on this one.  Premiere Date:  9/29/04.